Lexington Utilities officials at 5 p.m. were reporting approximately 1,000 of its 19,000 customers were without power. As of 5 p.m. Duke Energy was reporting 19,781 of its 33,095 customers were affected by outages. A total of 6,945 of Energy United’s 26,897 customers were without power as of 5 p.m.

“We made good progress (Friday) in our power outage restoration efforts — focusing on public safety issues and the largest outages,” said David Schleicher, EnergyUnited vice president of engineering and operations. “Overnight we had the chance to evaluate where we stand and create a plan of attack for the remainder of the weekend. (Saturday) we have the advantage of extra manpower coming from several different sources and we expect to make a great deal of headway. We still believe we will be able to complete the restoration efforts by end of day Sunday.”

Odom reported that out-of-town crews are assisting Lexington Utilities in restoring power. He said 80 workers, including Lexington’s crews, are on the ground.

“I’m just proud of the effort the city employees have given as we have gone through this,” Odom said about 4 p.m. Saturday.

Earlier Saturday, Odom said crews made better progress than expected Friday and good weather Saturday would make restoration efforts go faster. He encouraged residents to continue to let Lexington Utilities know of any issues.

Travel in the county remained tricky Saturday morning as there were still some “unsafe situations.” Odom said he was coming from the northern part of the county to work Saturday in Lexington and got sideways a couple of times. Odom thought roads would improve rapidly, and noted trees crossing the roads may be a bigger issue than ice.

All of the north Davidson area booster club youth basketball playoffs had to be canceled Saturday due to power outages.

Maj. Alton Hanes of Davidson County Emergency Services reported an emergency shelter was closing noon at Davis Townsend Elementary School on Heath Church Road. It opened Friday evening for residents in the county without power. A total of seven people from two families utilized the shelter. Davidson County Emergency Services was assisted by the Davidson County Department of Social Services and the American Red Cross with setting up the shelter.

The two families were provided, shower and sleeping facilities, as well as food. Hanes said one of the families was returning to their residence and the other was being assisted by the Red Cross.

The Baptist Men from Greenwood Baptist Church in Thomasville set up locations Saturday at First Baptist Church in Welcome-Arcadia Road and their church on Lexington Avenue. Residents are able to go there during daylight hours and on Sunday to get help with cleaning up their properties. The group will dispatch crews from the church to residences in need of help. The Baptist Men will be at the churches Sunday as well, John Gore, site commander for the group, said Saturday afternoon.

Gore said The Baptist Men were taking orders Saturday for crews to go out Sunday and Monday to fix damage. Rooftops would be the first priority, the driveways second and trees fallen on yards third. The work was being provided at no charge to residents, Gore said.

Hanes said the conditions of trees in roads were getting better in the county. He said there were still a few places in the county where limbs were on the road.

Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 217, or darrick.ignasiak@the-dispatch.com. Follow Darrick on Twitter: @DispatchDarrick.

<p>Thousands of power outages were being reported late Saturday afternoon in Davidson County as crews worked to restore power lost from an ice storm occurring Thursday and Friday.</p><p>“We do appreciate people's understanding,” Dale Odom, director of energy services for Lexington Utilities, said Saturday morning. “This is a big, big catastrophe.”</p><p>Lexington Utilities officials at 5 p.m. were reporting approximately 1,000 of its 19,000 customers were without power. As of 5 p.m. Duke Energy was reporting 19,781 of its 33,095 customers were affected by outages. A total of 6,945 of Energy United's 26,897 customers were without power as of 5 p.m.</p><p>“We made good progress (Friday) in our power outage restoration efforts — focusing on public safety issues and the largest outages,” said David Schleicher, EnergyUnited vice president of engineering and operations. “Overnight we had the chance to evaluate where we stand and create a plan of attack for the remainder of the weekend. (Saturday) we have the advantage of extra manpower coming from several different sources and we expect to make a great deal of headway. We still believe we will be able to complete the restoration efforts by end of day Sunday.” </p><p>Odom reported that out-of-town crews are assisting Lexington Utilities in restoring power. He said 80 workers, including Lexington's crews, are on the ground. </p><p>“I'm just proud of the effort the city employees have given as we have gone through this,” Odom said about 4 p.m. Saturday. </p><p>Earlier Saturday, Odom said crews made better progress than expected Friday and good weather Saturday would make restoration efforts go faster. He encouraged residents to continue to let Lexington Utilities know of any issues. </p><p>Travel in the county remained tricky Saturday morning as there were still some “unsafe situations.” Odom said he was coming from the northern part of the county to work Saturday in Lexington and got sideways a couple of times. Odom thought roads would improve rapidly, and noted trees crossing the roads may be a bigger issue than ice.</p><p>All of the north Davidson area booster club youth basketball playoffs had to be canceled Saturday due to power outages.</p><p>Maj. Alton Hanes of Davidson County Emergency Services reported an emergency shelter was closing noon at Davis Townsend Elementary School on Heath Church Road. It opened Friday evening for residents in the county without power. A total of seven people from two families utilized the shelter. Davidson County Emergency Services was assisted by the Davidson County Department of Social Services and the American Red Cross with setting up the shelter. </p><p>The two families were provided, shower and sleeping facilities, as well as food. Hanes said one of the families was returning to their residence and the other was being assisted by the Red Cross.</p><p>“Whether it's 7 or 107, we accommodated folks and helped them out,” Hanes said.</p><p>The Baptist Men from Greenwood Baptist Church in Thomasville set up locations Saturday at First Baptist Church in Welcome-Arcadia Road and their church on Lexington Avenue. Residents are able to go there during daylight hours and on Sunday to get help with cleaning up their properties. The group will dispatch crews from the church to residences in need of help. The Baptist Men will be at the churches Sunday as well, John Gore, site commander for the group, said Saturday afternoon.</p><p>Gore said The Baptist Men were taking orders Saturday for crews to go out Sunday and Monday to fix damage. Rooftops would be the first priority, the driveways second and trees fallen on yards third. The work was being provided at no charge to residents, Gore said.</p><p>Hanes said the conditions of trees in roads were getting better in the county. He said there were still a few places in the county where limbs were on the road.</p><p>Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 217, or darrick.ignasiak@the-dispatch.com. Follow Darrick on Twitter: @DispatchDarrick.</p>